We will begin living on our boat in the near future. We will be moving at a snails pace along the coast lines and islands.

Our question is:

When getting to new ports we will want to explore the towns and nearby attractions. Of course we will also need to shop for supplies. What is the best way to get about on land once you arrive at new ports. I know the tourist type areas is not a problem but what about along the Florida or east coast.

Depends on where you are, where you want to go and what you want to do while there. Many places have bus service. Vero Beach and St. Augustine here in FL both have very nice systems. If you pick your stops carefully, a lot of stuff can be w/in walking distance. Here in Cocoa, there is alot of shopping, restaurants , etc. w/in what I would call walking distance. New Smyrna Beach is nice for that too. Of course, everyone has a different idea of what walking distance is, too. The smaller towns tend to be more accessible in my experience. When you want to go further afield, say to Disney World/Orlando or the Kennedy Space Center, you may need to rent a car if you don't know someone in the area. You might want to do this if you are doing a big reprovisioning too. If you know that you are going to be renting a car anyway, that's the time to take care of the big errands. Enjoy your adventure! My boat's on the hard so I'm jealous! :-)

We have also just bought a Dahon folding bike, nice bit of kit. New price a bit high, but we found one in good condition on e bay which has hardly been used. The Rolls Royce option are Bickertons, but very expensive.

motorcycle would demand a large boat for stowage. i use full sized mountain bike--most places on west coast have good bike paths to use a regular sized bicycle--the tiny wheel folders are useless on long treks.
in WEST fla, there are marinas that cater to ye on the -is lovely there, but a LOONG trek from alaska.....
only place i havent used my mountain bike is here in mazatlan-- is deadly to try on the streets, and bus and taxi service are decent here.

Very different from the lower US. Mare's shank (foot) local taxi or bus...you're dealing with a lot of very small towns, aren't you?

Florida and the east coast is totally different, in many towns you can rent a ZipCar or similar by the hour, and one or two hours isn't very expensive. Major rental companies are doing hourly rentals as well. Local busses are likely to be $2-3 per ride in any sizeable town.

Any kind of motorized scooter is problematic, if it is not DOT-approved as a motor vehicle for street use, each state treats it differently. For instance, a Segway scooter is illegal on sidewalks in many places--and equally illegal on streets because it is not a "moped" or motorcycle under DOT rules.

Public transport isn't always obvious but it IS showing up more frequently on Google Maps and other web applications, a smartphone could be invaluable. As is asking the natives. Sometimes a daily or weekly bus pass is available, for the cost of just a few rides.

We use folding adult-size manual push scooters like you had when you were a kid - easier than bicycles to stow on our 33-footer and like Minggat said, you know they will still be there when you come out. Also busses and foot; and Enterprise car rental often has rentals for $10/day on weekends in cities along the East Coast.

We have now been out for a couple of years, US, islands,Europe. We love our bikes for anyplace within a couple of miles. Some days we go for a long ride. Some places are just too steep and we walk. For sightseeing we use public transit or rent a car when they are on a good deal.
About the bikes, we had expensive bikes that were stolen before we left home. Then we took a couple of cheap bikes aboard that we kept on deck. Uh the chains actually rusted solid on a 3 day passage. We still own cheap bikes but we grease them well and keep them in a sunbrella bag tied to the rail. Works great. They also deflect water on deck, not sure how they affect boat speed.

I have a Diblasi folding/collapsible motorcycle. Anyone interested in taking it off my hands, cheap?

Do you deliver?

Actually I am now lusting after the Electric version Had a looksee at the local boatshow, battery detaches for an easy carry - and rest of the bike light ......both would be an easy one handed lift from a dinghy.

Not quite as extravagant as it seems (well, not quite ) - being a skinny beggar with a short commute (10 mins on the flat) the range (and bike size) is more than enough (am presently on a Vespa Scooter for that).....and depending on how freindly the office I am in is, bike could be bagged and "parked" under my desk - with battery plugged into free electrickery...........and all that's even before it arrives on the boat